2019-06-10 Regular Session Minutes

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Mr. Goodenow: Now the respondent if you'd care to make an opening statement. Ms. Kierkiewicz: Sure. Thank you Vice Chair Goodenow, Members of the Ethics Board. For the record, my name is Ashley Kierkiewicz, Council Member representing District 4. If you have any questions regarding the response that I submitted related to this petition, I am happy to answer any of those questions. I do want to share that since then, I have resigned from Hastings & Pleadwell, a communication company, unrelated to the matter at hand. As Mr. Akiona stated, being a Councilmember is a part time job and I quickly realized in the first few months of being a Councilmember that it was gonna require my full time attention. And so I wanted to give it a few months because I had this idea that potentially I could juggle being a Councilmember and working on projects statewide. But being very real about the fact that I have small children and still want to be able to be an active mother, I resigned so that I could fully focus on my family and the very real challenges that District 4 and our Hawai`i island faces. There are a few things that I want to clarify in response to some of the testimony that was offered up by folks today. The matter that came before Council actually came before planning committee. And our role in committee is simply to make a recommendation to the full Council. And so as chair of planning committee, the protocol is when there are bills that come from the administration, we introduce them. Whether or not we like the bill or not. Whether or not we know anyone that is involved in the application before us. We introduce them as chairs. And there are...there's a code next to our signature. B/R meaning by request. It is by the request of the administration that we are putting these bills forward. And so that's what I've done with every single item that has come before planning committee which I chair. At the March 28th Council meeting, I shared my non-interest in the bill in which I have elaborated for you in the letter. And I put it to the call of the chair, Chair Aaron Chung as to whether or not I should recuse from the vote. He made very clear that he did not want this to be a mechanism in which could be abused in which Councilmembers not vote on things that are controversial. He encouraged me to vote. But that matter has been tabled and deferred given the action that has happened...with regards to the project. You know I'd just like to state that we live in a very small community. I was born and raised here. I've done work statewide. My family has owned businesses. We've been very active in the community. And so to say that I know some people is an understatement. I know a lot, a lot of people. And I'd like to think that I operate with honor and integrity. And so in reviewing the Charter section 14-3 disclosure 19